NI job numbers 'reach new high', suggests survey

Most of the growth came from the services sector

The number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland reached a new high of 765,880 in September, official figures suggest.

That represents growth of 2% - or 14,700 jobs - compared to September 2017.

Most of the growth came from the services sector which, grew over the year by 1.8%, or 10,950 jobs, to 621,970 jobs.

The figures come from the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), which surveys about 5,700 companies.

The survey covers all employers with 25 or more employees and all public sector employers.

It suggests that the private sector added almost 14,000 jobs over the year, an increase of 2.6%, to a record high of 559,110.

Economic inactivity up

The public sector showed annual growth of 0.6% or 1,160 jobs.

There are now 20,830 fewer public sector jobs than at the peak in September 2009.

Over the last year almost a third of additional jobs have come in three sectors: retailing, hospitality and healthcare.

The number of both full and part time jobs increased over the year; full time jobs accounted for 55% of the annual increases.

Meanwhile other labour market figures suggest that in the last quarter the unemployment rate in Northern Ireland decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 3.9%.

However, the economic inactivity rate increased by 0.8 percentage points to 28.5%.

Economic inactivity refers to people of working age who are neither in work or looking for a job.

The rate in Northern Ireland is persistently above the UK average.